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Conrad Ross connected on a 23-yard field goal late in the third quarter, making it 18-0, but early in the final frame, Rockford’s Chance Manning ran it in from 17 yards out, ending the shutout.

Lakeland managed to find the end zone twice more in the fourth quarter, ending Rockford’s comeback bid. Early in the frame, Whitley ran it in from the one-yard line. Then with less than two minutes to play, Whitley found Smith down the field for a 44-yard scoring strike.

“I thought we were a little sloppy, to be honest,” said head coach Colin Bruton. “I don’t think we were as emotionally engaged in the game as we’ve been in previous weeks. It was a game that we knew we were going to have to grind it out, because they use such a conservative style. We did a good job of that. We showed some patience and did enough to win comfortably.”

Whitley finished 29-42 for 277 yards and three touchdowns, and added another 87 yards on the ground. It was enough to break the school record for total offense in a season with 3,306 yards and counting.

“He’s playing really well,” Bruton said. “He’s such a threat because he runs the ball so well too. He’s our leader out there and he’s a great person. That helps because guys want to rally around him and follow him. He’s doing a great job to our skill players and he’s playing outstanding football.”

Despite the new record and impressive stat line, Whitley said he wasn’t close to satisfied with the offense.

“We didn’t do a good job today,” he said. “We had too many turnovers. I didn’t make good enough reads. It wasn’t a good day for the offense. We struggled.”

The win sets up next week’s match up with Benedictine University with winner-takes-all stakes. To the victor goes the conference championship and a potential spot in the playoffs.

Bruton said they’ve had the game circled all year.

“It’s good that we can finally focus on Benedictine,” he said. “It’s been in the back of our minds since we started camp in August. We knew it was going to be the conference championship game. It’s going to come down to execution and which team responds to adversity. It’s good to be able to focus on this game now.”

Whitley his offense will be ready, no matter what.

“We’re going to have a big week of practice this week and prepare for Benedictine,” he said. “We want to focus on the small things. I need to think about making my reads. If I make the correct reads, we’ll be alright. It’s as simple as that.”